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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24125761">Helping Hand</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereyofstarlight/pseuds/onereyofstarlight'>onereyofstarlight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gift Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brotherly Affection, Exhaustion, Family, Gen, Post Rescue Rituals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:07:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,577</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24125761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereyofstarlight/pseuds/onereyofstarlight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"All he really wanted was a sandwich and to not need to talk to anyone for a couple of hours." Virgil gets back in from a rescue, ready to drop. Scott finds him soon after.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gift Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Helping Hand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gumnut/gifts">Gumnut</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Teen rating bc Virgil takes a shower and it's not explicit at all, but it's there. *shrugs* that's your warning.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of streaming water and snatches of off-key singing that floated out from the hangar bathroom told Virgil that Gordon had once again raced through his post-mission checks in order to snag the best shower on Tracy Island. There were eight showers scattered around the sprawling villa, all fitted with temperature controls and pressure jets that could wash away sweat and blood and private tears after a hard rescue. But all the brothers were in agreement, the shower in the hangar was the best, if only for the virtue of being no more than fifty metres from any of their birds and removing the requirement of climbing stairs before stripping away the muck that clung to them. The ritual of jostling each other for first shower and talking in low voices, sprawled across ancient couches while they waited their turns, provided them with a necessary boundary between rescue and rest that none of them were willing to sacrifice lightly.</p>
<p>Virgil couldn’t bring himself to care today. His head was pounding slightly as his body protested at the thought of more exertion and he held the railing tightly as he climbed the stairs to the main section of their home.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure what he had been planning as he swayed slightly in the lounge room. All he really wanted was a sandwich and to not need to talk to anyone for a couple of hours. He collapsed on the nearest couch, groaning at the way his sash dug into him as he piled his weight on top of the utilities that adorned it. Wriggling slightly, he pulled it off and discarded it on the floor beside him. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for a second, he thought to himself.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Somebody’s finger was jabbing into his side, pulling Virgil up from the depths of slumber.</p>
<p>He assessed the annoyance as he groaned at its intrusion.</p>
<p>“Virgil,” called a voice from above him.</p>
<p>“Ngh,” he grunted, and turned away, burrowing his face into the back of the couch.</p>
<p>“Grandma is gonna kill you if you don’t get up,” insisted the voice. “Come on, you need a shower, you stink and you’re gonna get mud everywhere.”</p>
<p>Virgil knew all this. He wanted the voice to go away and stop badgering him with information that he was already perfectly aware of.</p>
<p>He considered for a moment that perhaps there was some sort of dissonance between his actions and his awareness of the fury that would rain down from above if his Grandma discovered him lying there, mud-soaked, grass-stained, and covered in unidentifiable substances that he didn’t want to dwell on.</p>
<p>“On your own head, Virg,” chirped the voice and suddenly all was silent again.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>It was mid afternoon by the time Scott crashed into the lounge room, loud and cheerful as he chatted on the comm to Kayo.</p>
<p>He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Virgil, still snoring on the couch. His eyebrows raised as he took in the semi discarded uniform, the muddy footprints that showed how Virgil had crashed without a second voice.</p>
<p>“What is it, Scott?” asked Kayo.</p>
<p>“It’s Virgil,” he replied, holding out his wrist to allow the comm to transmit a rudimentary holoscan of the room.</p>
<p>“Yeesh, is he okay?” she asked. “Looks like whatever happened this morning hit him hard.”</p>
<p>“He should be, Gordon would have mentioned otherwise. Or at least hidden it better.”</p>
<p>“Should we start heading back?”</p>
<p>“Nah,” said Scott, moving gingerly through the room to avoid spreading more mud around. “I’ll start clean-up here and check on him myself. I’ll let you know if I need back up.”</p>
<p>“FAB, Scott,” she said and signed off.</p>
<p>Scott sighed as he looked around him and grabbed the mop. He could worry about the couch – and his brother – after the most immediate mess was dealt with and food was procured. He thought back over the report Gordon had made only a few hours prior, his face freshly scrubbed and skin still pink from the heat of the shower water. There had been nothing to indicate injury, just a comment about both of them being famished and Gordon looking forward to making a meal without Grandma hovering over his shoulder ‘helping’.</p>
<p>Virgil snuffled in his sleep and Scott looked down at him with a fond smile. He was too young to remember life before his brother was born, the two of them partners for as long as he could remember. They’d shared a room, shared toys and computer games and sports equipment and even their classroom teacher when they’d been put in a split year class. They’d always shared their responsibilities as big brothers too. But Scott was still Virgil’s big brother, and the only one he had, so it was with a gentle touch that Scott woke him.</p>
<p>He grinned at the sight of Virgil frowning against the light, blinking owlishly as he readjusted to consciousness.</p>
<p>“Hey Virg.”</p>
<p>“Morning?” his brother asked in confusion.</p>
<p>“Nah, just a nap.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” said Virgil, stretching out the crick in his neck. “Wow, what happened?”</p>
<p>Scott frowned.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“I remember climbing up the stairs,” said Virgil, looking carefully around him. “God, I was exhausted.”</p>
<p>He scratched at his chin and sniffed sharply.</p>
<p>“Am I still in uniform?”</p>
<p>“Yup,” said Scott. He held out a sandwich and grinned when Virgil promptly inhaled it.</p>
<p>The brother sat in silence, eating their way through a plateful of ham sandwiches. Food didn’t need to be fancy when you’d burned through every energy resource you had not four hours ago.</p>
<p>Finally, Virgil sighed and leaned back. He pushed the plate away as he bent down to remove his boots and tear the socks from his feet.</p>
<p>“Eurgh,” said Scott, shoving him away. Virgil threw the socks half-heartedly at the laundry chute, shrugging indifferently when they fell short.</p>
<p>“You’re getting those,” said Scott firmly. “I’m not touching them, that crosses a line.”</p>
<p>Virgil groaned and held out an arm.</p>
<p>“Come on, help me up then.”</p>
<p>Scott hauled his brother to his feet, waiting patiently as Virgil stooped down to collect his things.</p>
<p>“Shower, then bed,” he said firmly, as though it were the first night he’d been trusted with babysitting his brothers all over again.</p>
<p>Unlike then, Virgil didn’t fight him, instead leaning sleepily against his should and allowing Scott to drag him up the stairs to his bedroom.</p>
<p>Scott gently kicked the door open and walked into Virgil’s sunlit room. Wide windows opened onto magnificent views of the surrounding landscape, the blue ocean and lush greens of the forest that had established itself on the rocky island hundreds of years before them. He could feel Virgil sagging in relief beside him and swung into their shared en suite bathroom.</p>
<p>“You gonna be okay?” he asked, rummaging through his brother’s drawers.</p>
<p>Virgil didn’t reply, only giving him a thumbs up when Scott looked up to scowl at him.</p>
<p>“Well, yell if you need me,” said Scott, throwing a pair of sweatpants at him. “I’m gonna go clean the couch before Kayo comes back with Grandma.”</p>
<p>Virgil blinked as Scott hurried from the room. He was feeling a lot more human now, the food and nap having done him a world of good, but he was now very aware of the grimy feeling that coated his skin and stuck in his hair. He peeled off his uniform, bundling it into the basket that sat in the corner and turned the tap on. While he waited for the boiler to heat the water and fill the bathroom with a steam that would clear the fog in his mind, he padded back into his room, fumbling with the sound system for a moment until the calm sounds of his favourite sonatas filled the air.</p>
<p>His stomach and soul fed, Virgil jumped into the shower, murmuring happily at the stream that massaged his muscles and joints and pulled the sweat and mud from his skin.</p>
<p>He took his time, savouring the moment and washing away the heartache of the day. Mudslides were fast and vicious, burying homes and suffocating the living without discrimination. Even though the rescue that he and Gordon had been assigned had been successful, he knew that he was saving people who had lost more that he would ever know. The emotional toll of the day had worn him down and it was only now, as the burden lifted, that he could recognise how it had weighed on him.</p>
<p>There was a knock on the door.</p>
<p>“You good, Virg?” called Scott.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” he called back, his voice rough against his throat.</p>
<p>He turned the shower off, the strains of music still floating in air joined by the slow dripping of water.</p>
<p>Virgil felt more refreshed than he had done in days, perhaps even weeks, but as he pulled on the soft sweatpants, the events of the day came crashing back down upon him.</p>
<p>He barely greeted Scott when he left the bathroom, making a beeline for his bed and flopping down on it face first, not even bothering to close the blinds in his room.</p>
<p>“Uh, Virg?”</p>
<p>Virgil didn’t respond as he sunk into the mattress, wet hair squashed down as he burrowed deeper into the pillows. A soft snore snuck out and Scott chuckled.</p>
<p>“Sleep well then,” he said and walked out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. “Love you little brother,” he whispered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Cross posted from Tumblr, originally posted on 15/02/2020</p></blockquote></div></div>
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